The Coronado High School Parking lot has a ton of traffic. This is mainly due to when the school was built. Coronado High School was originally the only building in the area when it was built in the late 1960s and opened in the early 1970s. Now with more buildings in the area, and a lack of space to expand, the parking lot has become a nightmare for both new drivers, and parents. Traffic in the parking lot has been getting worse every semester, especially with more new drivers parking and driving as the year progresses.

Staff at Coronado have wanted to make changes to the parking lot, but modifications cost a lot of money. So the staff needs to find out the most important aspects to change. These variables need to be tested before permanent changes are made, so as to not waste school dollars.

When considering enhancements or upgrades to the parking lot Mrs. Adariene Arnell, Coronado Principal, brought up her main concerns: “Safety was #1 and efficiency was #2. We needed more safe crossing paths for students, and more direction for the parents.” With this in mind, some test changes have been made recently.

Our parking lot has been given a small overhaul over the past winter break. There are now two separate parent pick-up lines to increase efficiency of drop off/pick-up times. The two pathways are, for now, just painted-in lanes and a couple of cones to help direct the flow of traffic smoothly towards the exits.

This miniature overhaul to the parking lot has seen a major increase in efficiency. The average time for the parking lot to clear has gone down by around 15 minutes. As more time goes by, this time may even get quicker as parents and students start to understand the changes better.

With the increase to parking lot efficiency, many new problems have been spotted. Caitlin Garrison, Coronado Security Guard, expressed, “They saw the problems they came up with solutions, and it’s ok to say this was a good effort. We see new problems; it’s a trial period. Were seeing what still needs to be done.” This trial period is showing the staff at Coronado what still needs to be improved, and what changes can be made permanent in the future.

There are many things to consider with changing the safety and efficiency of the parking lot: How much will it all cost? How much time will it take to modify it to what we need? How can we ensure the safety of students? What plans are there for the future?

The future of the Coronado parking lot is a big priority for the staff. When talking about the future of the parking lot Mrs. Arnell stated, “There are no set plans for the future. We are seeing how things go with the current changes and what still needs to be done.” There is a lot more work to be done to make the parking lot safer and more efficient. The staff here at Coronado are working on it, and they have the students’ safety in mind.